Shop has nice return policy

Dave James, owner of Factory Records in Costa Mesa, found some old school photos and documents inside a box of records that appear to be from Westminster. He'd like to return them to their owner. ED CRISOSTOMO, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Would you like to see your old grade school report cards? Not everyone wants to relive their elementary nightmares, but I was one of those annoying suck-up teacher's pets, so I would find it interesting to see mine.

However, I'm the daughter of a neat freak. So any historical artifacts like that have long since gone to the great landfill in the sky.

This is going to create some problems for my biographers someday when I win my Nobel Prize. What, you say? They don't give Nobel Prizes for science experiments growing in the kitchen sink?

Ah, well. At least maybe I can help Dave James.

Dave, also known as “Noise” James, owns a tiny but somewhat legendary vinyl shop called Factory Records, strategically located behind a barbershop in Costa Mesa.

If your turntable still has a working needle – unlike mine – you need to go see him.

But, first, Dave would like to find Alan Kanase, who went to the 17th Street School in Westminster in the 1950s.

Alan, where are you?

Last week, while Dave was out of town, someone dropped off two donated boxes of mostly 78 records that turned out to include a different kind of record that he didn't expect. He went through the boxes on Tuesday and discovered the bag of keepsakes.

These are school photos of a cute little kid who looked like he'd smeared plenty of Brylcreem in his black hair, along with 10 report cards and commencement programs from the school. In these old-fashioned report cards, the teachers wrote notes by hand and, sometimes, the mom answered back. The group photos of his class alone are priceless, as the kids aged from fifth grade to eighth grade.

There's even a tiny black-and-white fan photo of Hopalong Cassidy in there. Seems like Alan was a fan.

Now, over the years, Dave told me, he's found everything from drugs to photos to a recording of the opening of a fire station in Pasadena in boxes that he's purchased or been given. Sometimes, people just want to get rid of their old records and drop them off to him as a gift.

He still blushes as he remembers the lingerie he found in a carton he bought from some “really sweet little old ladies.”

But this is the first time he's found photos with a name attached, and he'd like to give them back. He tried calling a few numbers he found in the white pages. And friends even dredged up some Alan Kanases of the same name, and the right age, from records of Japanese internment camps during World War II.

But, still, he hasn't found the right guy.

You know that a collection like that, saved for 50 years, means something to somebody. And I'm hoping you'll get in touch.

Dave's search reminds me of another old box of photos, this one found by my friend when she cleaned out her late mother-in-law's house in Los Angeles. The box was chock-full of old photos that you know someone would love to have, but none of them could be identified.

I feel more optimistic about this search, since Alan Kanase did live in Westminster and someone probably remembers him. Is that you?

If so, get in touch with Dave at Factory Records, 440 E. 17th St. (in the back), Costa Mesa. Phone: 949-722-8101.

Dave James, owner of Factory Records in Costa Mesa, found some old school photos and documents inside a box of records that appear to be from Westminster. He'd like to return them to their owner. ED CRISOSTOMO, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A school document from 1948 was found inside the box of records. ED CRISOSTOMO, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
This black-and-white photo of Hopalong Cassidy was among the photos that Dave James found. ED CRISOSTOMO, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
This school photo from 1951 was also inside the mystery box. ED CRISOSTOMO, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Dave James shows a photograph he thinks may be Alan Kanase. ED CRISOSTOMO, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
A class photograph is one of many items found in the donated box. ED CRISOSTOMO, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
Dave James is hoping someone can identify the owner of these photos. ED CRISOSTOMO, ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

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